Yeah - Hickson would have been an RFA after the new CBA (RIP 1999-2011). His salary is something I was immensely worried about... :-/

Like I said, dots are telling me a story right now that reads BLUE COLLAR BASKETBALL OR DIE, WHO NEEDS SCORING AND DIVAS!!@#$! which is a story that doesn't win in the NBA. That said not gonna jump yet because it is early enough for story to move.

Could somebody make sense out of this for me: The pick is top 10 protected in 2017. If they don't give us a first round pick by 2017 they have to give us their own second round pick in 2017. But that second round pick is "protected (56-60)."

Two questions: 1. Who is being "protected" here? Us or them? 2. How in the world could Sacramento ever have "it's own" second round pick between 56-60 and NOT also have their own first round pick outside of the top 10?

Stein reporting that the cavs are trying to use TPE by midnight with no league clarification on expiration. He also broke the Casspi trade. After months of not breaking anything it is starting to look like he is the guy connected to the Grant regime and the guy to look for breaking stories from.

Also, I have been and will remain as harsh on JJ as anyone, but Drew Gooden is a mother fucking hall of fame level moron.

Hickson has his moments but man, it's hard to comp any sober and in shape player in NBA history directly to Drew MFin Gooden. Guys been doing what he does for ten years (after being seasoned in college more than most) and just keeps on going. The energizer bunny of moronicisms.

At the end of the day I like the trade for attitude alone.....Give me the ultra competitive player who won't hesitate to get his hands dirty..Over a player with a light switch on his back that I have to poke and prod all day telling how great he could be..

Omri is by far an upgrade over what we have a the 3 but I don't think the Cavs are done at the position unless we are already in tank mode to get our hands on the 2 and 3 crammed 2012 draft.

So's Hickson on a good team, isn't he? I wish we could have gotten more for him, but I'm going with "eh," on this one for now. We traded an athletic, BBIQ-challenged PF for a SF who could be a nice piece off the bench.

I'm out here in Sacramento and have been following the Kings the past few years.

The Kings will be making some more moves, so it remains to be seen how the pieces fit. They didn't anticipate resigning Dalembert, so acquiring Hickson to be part of a rotation with Cousins and Thompson makes some sense for them. I suspect they will be acquiring a veteran for playing 15 or so minutes up front, and pushing the young guys. With this talent mix, I'm a little surprised the Cavs didn't get Hassan Whiteside as part of the deal, at least to take a look at him for next year.

As far as Casspi goes, he is a bit of an odd mix of talents. He is pretty fast and has a good ability to drive to the basket. He also is a 3 point gunner, absolutely camps out at the 3 point line and fires up shots as soon as he touches the ball. Has a bit of an attitude, plays with a chip on his shoulder and isn't afraid to get in opponents faces. Quick jumper, don't think of typical "white guy" skill sets.

His weaknesses so far is he doesn't show any type of midrange game at all, either takes a 3 point shot or drives to the bucket. Not much of a rebounder so far, though he did show some flashes of that ability during his rookie year. Has a lot of balls go off his hands and commits quite a few turnovers, playing too fast for his own good. One comment I've read from the coaches, and this might be a key issue, is that apparently he has fairly small hands for his size.

That was the first time I ever listened to Simmons for more then 10 minutes. He was not like that?

^Going on these fishing expeditions keeps me entertained.

ETASometimes I understand why the school of Absolute Idealism exists. I just happened to be driving around listening to horrible sports talk radio and the Hickson/Amare thing came up again. Reghi said Ferry said... Then he says we need to get Kerr on the air...

I'm just sitting there pondering whether I keep going. I do.

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."